


It's Not What it Looks Like

by EmberForge



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Flash is a dick, Friendship, Gen, MJ isn't putting up with any bullshit, MJ isn't putting up with his bullshit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberForge/pseuds/EmberForge
Summary: Or,Five Times Peter and Ned Were Taken Out of Context, and one time MJ shook things up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cleaning out the notes on my phone and found this from a while back. I just had this thought that Ned keeping Peter's secrets could lead to some awkward situations for the outside world! Five out of the six chapters were already written, so this should hopefully go well. Stay tuned!

"Stay still!"

"Ahhh!"

Peter twisted away from Ned's touch as they huddled together in the accessible stall in the men's bathroom. Before school, Peter had decided to go on an early morning patrol. Now, an hour later, with Ned helping him tend to a large cut across his back, Peter realized that maybeeee that wasn't such a good idea. 

Normally, it would have been fine. Normally, his suit was able to protect him from muggers and other petty criminals. But normally, said muggers didn't have knives made of vibranium. Like, what the hell, man. Where'd he even _get_ vibranium?

 _"Nedddd,"_ Peter whined as Ned brushed over a particularly sensitive spot with an antiseptic wipe.

"Be quiet!" Ned admonished in a hushed tone, tossing the bloody wipe into the toilet, and pulling out a roll of gauze. Ever since the Vulture incident, he had taken to carrying some first aid supplies in his backpack. It had come in handy more often than he would have liked. While Peter's healing ability meant that he'd probably be good as new by lunch, they didn't need any blood soaking through the back of his shirt until then.

 "But that hurtttt!"

"It'll be over soon!"

Carefully, the two took turns passing the roll of bandages around Peter's middle, Ned making sure that it sufficiently covered the wound. Satisfied, he cut the end and fixed it in place, then packed up his backpack while Peter put his shirt back on. 

"C'mon, we'll be late for class if we don't hurry," Ned said. Peter made a halfhearted attempt to flatten his ruffled hair, but soon gave it up as a lost cause.

"Next time, you better-"

Peter and Ned froze as they stepped out of the stall. There was a boy standing at the sinks that they hadn’t notice come in. The water was running, but he seemed to have abandoned the task of washing his hands, starring at them in the mirror with a slack jawed expression. He blushed a bit as they made eye contact.

The two boys quickly realized what the situation looked like. "Wait, it's not-" Peter began, but before he could say any more, the boy hurriedly left the room, leaving the sink running in his rush.

Ned looked at Peter. "This is all your fault."

Peter sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thanks again for letting me crash here, Ned," Peter said as he opened Ned's bedroom window. "May would've _freaked_ if she had seen that black eye."

Ned peered closely at Peter's face. "Its only a little yellow now. I think you'll be fine once school starts," he said. "Just make sure you're quiet on the way down, okay? The fire escape passes right by my parents' window, and they can't know that you're here."

"Got it." Peter swung himself over the window ledge. "See you at school!"

Ned waved before shutting the window behind him. Peter carefully made his way down the side of the building, stepping as lightly as possible so as not to rattle the fire escape too much. He jumped the last couple of stairs as he neared the ground, landing on his feet with a solid  _thud_. Peter looked around to see if anyone had seen him, but the early hour of the morning meant that not many people were around. He only spotted a paper boy at the next building over....

...whom Peter recognized from his math class. Who kept looking back and forth from Ned's window to Peter's disheveled appearance. Huh. Maybe he should have tried risking a shower.

"Morning! Nice day, isn't it?" Peter said casually to the boy as he walked past him, fighting every instinct to just bolt out of there.

"...Yeah," the boy said. Peter recognized him as one of the guys Flash sometimes hung out with. Hopefully he wouldn't tell him anything about this.

Who was he kidding. Flash would know by second period.


	3. Chapter 3

Ned was woken up by the sound of his phone buzzing. Looking at his alarm clock, which had yet to go off at such an early hour, he knew that only one person could be calling him.

"Peter?" He answered, blearily rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Was'up?"

"Ned!" Peter exclaimed in relief from the other end of the phone. "I kinda need your help, buddy."

Ned sat up straighter in his bed. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Should you be calling Mr. Stark?"

"No! No, nothing like that," Peter hurriedly explained. "It's just that, er, so you know how I sometimes go on early patrol?"

"Yeah." Ned said cautiously.

"And you know how I usually store my backpack behind that dumpster on Maynard Street?"

"Gross. But yeah."

"Welllllll… it’s not there."

"What?"

Peter sighed. "It's not there. Someone stole it. I'm lucky I kept my phone with me today. May's gonna kill me when she finds out, and I'm screwed for class today."

"What do you need me to do?" Ned asked.

"Well see, my clothes were in there too. So I'm kinda stuck. And it's too bright out right now and Mrs. Jones next door always waters her flowers right around now, so I'd totally get caught if I went home, but May will kill me even harder if I skip school. So, uh, could you maybe bring me some clothes on your way to school? Please?"

Looking at his clock again, Ned switched off the alarm and stretched, pulling back his covers. "Yeah. Okay. But Peter, maybe you should plan your morning vigilantism better. Bad things keep happening when you do it."

Peter laughed on the other end of the phone. "Yeah. Maybe. So, meet me in the alley on Maynard?"

"I'll be there by seven. But Peter, you're buying breakfast."

"Sure. My wallet was stolen too. But I'll venmo you before I call the credit card company, okay?" 

Ned just laughed.  
...

"Hey, Penis!"

Peter, Ned, and MJ stopped and turned towards Flash. The other boy smirked as he stared Peter up and down. "Borrowing clothes from your boyfriend now?"

Peter stared down at himself, burrowed in an old pair of sweats that were obviously Ned's, as well as the other boy's space camp hoodie that he had gotten two summers ago. It was one of the most comfortable outfits he had ever worn, and it did really well with hiding the suit he still wore underneath. He was going to respond when MJ beat him to it.

"So what, boys can't borrow each other's clothes like girls do? How juvenile, Flash. That kind of thinking only perpetuates toxic masculinity and shows your insecurity with forming strong friendships with with members of the same sex. Grow up."

Flash's cheeks flushed red in anger and embarrassment, but apparently he couldn't think of a suitable response, because he stormed away without another word.

"That. Was. Awesome." Ned said.

"It was true," MJ replied. "You look great by the way, Peter."

"Thanks," Peter said, smiling. 


	4. Chapter 4

English was a shaky subject at the best of times, but having it be the last period of the day made it absolutely unbearable, Peter thought. To make matters worse, today just happened to be a Friday, and they just happened to have a substitute teacher, who was making them watch the worst film adaptation of _Lord of the Flies_ Peter had ever seen. It was a small mercy when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Sneakily bringing it to his lap under his desk, Peter  
unlocked his phone to see a message from Ned. 

_ManInChair: Do you wanna come to my place this weekend? We can have a Star Wars marathon_

_ManInAir: Can't. Mr. S is letting me come upstate to do some training_

_ManInChair: omg I'm so jealous. Say hi for me_

_ManInAir: will do. You know, I should talk to him about bringing you with sometime. He said he wants to meet the guy who hacked his suit_

_ManInChair: omg Peter really? I'd love you forever if you did_

_ManInAir: I'll_

"Boys."

Ned and Peter looked up to see their substitute staring at them.

"There are two reasons to so focused on something going on under your desk, and none of them are allowed in this class." 

The room snickered at the statement.

The teacher continued, "You have fifteen minutes left. Surely you can wait that long to send heart eyed emojis to each other."

Peter slouched further into his seat. "We weren't-" Ned started.

 A swift kick to his desk from MJ, who was sitting behind him, stopped him in his tracks. "Let it go," she whispered, before turning her attention back to doodling in her sketchbook. 

Peter resolutely ignored the faces Flash was making at him from across the room for the rest of class.


End file.
